Computer Upgrade Questions

[Nucholza]

So I'm looking into possibly making some hardware upgrades, but if I do I need to stay really cheap (like $300 or lower) so here's what I found:

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130228

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220347

Total Cost = $265

my current stuff is:

Mobo: (Asus website acting up so can't link) Asus Crosshair (1st gen, not Crosshair II or III)

CPU: Athlon 64 x2 6400+ (~3.2 ghz dual core)

RAM: 2 sticks of 2 GB DDR2 800

My main questions are

A) The mobo seems too good to be true for that price, but it looks just fine to me at least

B) I'm not too sure what it will be like going from dual-core 3.2ghz to triple-core 2.8 ghz will be like....am I going to see things go slower? Or will it just be something like XP will seem slower but windows 7 will be a ton better - really not sure on all that junk.

C) Would it be smarter to spend another $20 or so to get 3 sticks of 2 GB RAM for a total of 6 GB for windows 7 and run it in triple channel (but I don't think the mobo supports that). I guess I'd plan on keeping this setup roughly 2 years so am I wrong in assuming that this mobo and 4 GB in dual channel would be good enough?

D) Am I missing something I'd need to upgrade? My PSU is 700W so I don't think that would need an upgrade and I plan on just using the same case. Onion is a doll and is sending me a video card of his that should (fingers crossed) resolve my gay issues needing to restart my game over and over during raids.

And if you can find something better than I did for roughly the same price feel free to point me in that direction >.>

[Megasteve]

A) It's fine. AMD chipsets are just crazy cheap.
B) You won't notice a decrease.
C) Triple Channel would require a different motherboard. Gonna be hard pressed to have that sort of configuration on $300.
D) 700w is plenty fine.

[Verah]

Tripple channel is an Intel thing because they put the memory controler on the CPU now. That's the whole "Core i7" thing.AMD will not support this until their 6 core CPU's come out.

I'll send you a computer if I get member without singing.

[Jirouu]

i Just bought me this systerm 1 month ago

Intel Core i7 940 Quad Core (2.93GHz) - Socket LGA1366, 4.8GT/s QPI, 8MB Cache Boxed Processor (Nehalem - 45nm)
OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666 Platinum i7 Low-Voltage Triple Channel - OCZ3P1333LV6GK
Antec Nine Hundred (900) Ultimate Gaming "Stealth" Tower With Window - Black (No PSU)
OCZ 610W PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 Power Supply (SLI/CrossFire) - Black
Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
MASSIVE 200mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2
LG GH22NS30 Super Multi DVD Writer | 22x DVD?RW/RAM | SATA | Black
Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound
Standard 1 Year Parts and 5 Year Labor Warranty Included Free
Asus P6T SE Intel Core I7 X58 | ATI CrossFireX (NO SLI Support) | X16 PCI-E S1366 | DDR3 1600Mhz | GB LAN | Audio HD | RAID | OC
Cooler Master V8 (RR-UV8-XBU1-GP) Super Quiet & Super Powerful CPU Cooler (S775/1366/AM2/AM2+/940)
Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
Coolmax 18" SATA Cable 2-Head Model SATA 18" 2H - BLUE
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2
On Board SATA, RAID0, 1,10, JBOD Hardware RAID controller
Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound
7.1 Realtek ALC1200, 8-channel High Definition Audio
D-link DWA-130 > Wireless N USB Adapter
Windows Vista Business Edition (64-bit) - English - Full Licence OEM DVD
And i have my old I7 quad core with 4 gigs ram, basically everything listed above but with 2 9800gt's. Id be willing to see you that tower only for $300 or so nuch.

[Megasteve]

i Just bought me this systerm 1 month ago

Intel Core i7 940 Quad Core (2.93GHz) - Socket LGA1366, 4.8GT/s QPI, 8MB Cache Boxed Processor (Nehalem - 45nm)
OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666 Platinum i7 Low-Voltage Triple Channel - OCZ3P1333LV6GK
Antec Nine Hundred (900) Ultimate Gaming "Stealth" Tower With Window - Black (No PSU)
OCZ 610W PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 Power Supply (SLI/CrossFire) - Black
Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
MASSIVE 200mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2
LG GH22NS30 Super Multi DVD Writer | 22x DVD?RW/RAM | SATA | Black
Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound
Standard 1 Year Parts and 5 Year Labor Warranty Included Free
Asus P6T SE Intel Core I7 X58 | ATI CrossFireX (NO SLI Support) | X16 PCI-E S1366 | DDR3 1600Mhz | GB LAN | Audio HD | RAID | OC
Cooler Master V8 (RR-UV8-XBU1-GP) Super Quiet & Super Powerful CPU Cooler (S775/1366/AM2/AM2+/940)
Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
Blue LED fan, 120x120x25 mm, 2000rpm, 21dBA With RPM Control
Coolmax 18" SATA Cable 2-Head Model SATA 18" 2H - BLUE
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB (7200 RPM) 16MB Cache SATA2
On Board SATA, RAID0, 1,10, JBOD Hardware RAID controller
Extreme PC ATI HD4870 MAXX FPS Edition 815MHz Core | 512MB 3700MHz DDR5 (Quad Data Rate) PCI-E DX10 | 2 DVI | HDTV | AVIVO | HDMI - AC3 7.1 Sound
7.1 Realtek ALC1200, 8-channel High Definition Audio
D-link DWA-130 > Wireless N USB Adapter
Windows Vista Business Edition (64-bit) - English - Full Licence OEM DVD
And i have my old I7 quad core with 4 gigs ram, basically everything listed above but with 2 9800gt's. Id be willing to see you that tower only for $300 or so nuch.

That's a fucking steal.

[Jirouu]

That's a fucking steal.


yeah but keep in mind it the video cards are 2 9800GT's and only 4 gigs of ram not 6..


SLI Ready!
Intel Core i7 Processor
Windows Vista Home Premium
4GB DDR3-1333 Memory (RAM)
10 USB Ports (2 front)
2 IEEE1394 Firewire (1 front)
640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
22x DVD/CD Writer
650W Power Supply
7.1 high definition audio
Onboard Gigabit Ethernet

here's the link to what it is exactly
http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc/ncixpc.cfm?uuid=278A393E-ABBB-42BA-8786928C436DDC01-2441016

[Gogan]

B) I don't know much about these tri-core cpus, but I'd bet money that a dual core 3.2 will still be marginally better than a tri-core 2.8 for WoW. Games in general aren't very well multi-threaded, so you're better off with whatever gets you a faster clock speed. I personally wouldn't waste the money on the new cpu.

C) Going from the 800/ddr2 to 1600/ddr3 may be worth it, though I'm not sure how big of a gain you'll realize from it. As for moving to 6GB, unless you're running 64-bit XP/Vista/7, the most your system will recognize and use is 4GB (it's actually a bit less than 4GB). As for the gains of triple channel vs dual channel, again the gains are pretty small and only realized when you can fully saturate the memory bus, which you won't do in something like WoW.

In summary, everything I've read and experienced tells me the biggest gains you'll see for gaming come from 1) fastest cpu clock speed and 2) best video card you can get.

[Onion]

buy jirouu's computer

[Nucholza]

B) I don't know much about these tri-core cpus, but I'd bet money that a dual core 3.2 will still be marginally better than a tri-core 2.8 for WoW. Games in general aren't very well multi-threaded, so you're better off with whatever gets you a faster clock speed. I personally wouldn't waste the money on the new cpu.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't use my processor I don't think since it's an Athlon 64 x2 socket AM2 and the motherboard shows that it supports Phenom II X4 / Phenom II X3 ?

And thanks for the offer Jirou, I'll get back to you on it in a day or two.

[Verah]

The computer I was talking about is an AMD Phenom II Quad 3.0GHZ AM2+, MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX, MSI R4870-T2D1G Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0, CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply, OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2x2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) in a Antec Nine Hundred Case.

[Veloz]

http://media.nscdn.com/uploads/cache/images/1242258119-780494-356x609-diesel.jpg

[Veloz]

and yes buy jirou's computer, NCIX builds them right.

[Jirouu]

and yes buy jirou's computer, NCIX builds them right.


ncix built the one im selling, the other one i got from extreme-pc.ca

[Tina]

http://media.nscdn.com/uploads/cache/images/1242258119-780494-356x609-diesel.jpg

Why the hell can't I stop laughing?!?!?

[Megasteve]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2166/2989240463_91b2b5607b_o.jpg

http://www.woosk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/vindiesel.jpg


Trust me, they go on for days.

[Jirouu]

wow......... just wow...

[Tenzo]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't use my processor I don't think since it's an Athlon 64 x2 socket AM2 and the motherboard shows that it supports Phenom II X4 / Phenom II X3 ?

And thanks for the offer Jirou, I'll get back to you on it in a day or two.

What motherboard do you have. Phenoms use AM2+ socket compared to the AM2. AM2 socket motherboards are *suppose* to be fully compatible with AM2+ socket motherboards. Basically, your cpu *should* be backward compatible but will not run at its full potential with an older motherboard (AM2). It should work fine, but you should double check your manufacturer's website, and you may need to update the BIOS.

On a side note, all quad-cores have little or no performance advantage while playing video games over their dual-core counterparts (1-6fps in difference). Triple cores numbers very similiar to quad-cores, so a triple core is a good low-cost choice for gaming if you are convinced you gotta have more than two cores because that was so two years ago. So if you are on a budget, its definitely something to consider.

If you are not on a budget and are not content with keeping your same motherboard, I would switch to Intel. Few years ago, high end CPUs were switching back and forth, but now AMD has changed their marketing strategies and have gone for more affordable CPUs while Intel is still pumping out high end CPUs and a good chunk of mid-level and "tweeners" along the way.

The best thing to do is just do the research on your own. In one hour of reading sites like tom's hardware, you can get a general idea of whats the best out there, and whats the best for you and your need. If all you do is play WOW, you definitely do not need a high end cpu.

[Tenzo]

Forgot to mention about the sockets in reverse. If you have a AM2+ socket motherboard, a AM2 CPU *should* work at its full potential. Check manufacturer's website again.

[Onion]

jirouu if nuch doesn't buy that i will

[Onion]

btw jirouu what are the specs of your old computer?

[Nucholza]

thanks for all the info, but I have no idea what you're talking about tenzo -_-

What I was referring to was that I didn't know if my current CPU would work in the new motherboard I originally posted about - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130228

I'm guessing from what you're saying that my current CPU (dual core AMD 64 x2 socket AM2) *should* work in this new motherboard since it supports a more advanced socket AM3 chip and *should* be backwards compatible with a socket AM2

Anyway, about the only thing I do is play WoW so yeah not looking for something super duper high end, I'm just sick of getting 15 FPS in raids and taking 30 seconds to zone or 2 min for the mailbox to load after logging into the game from Dalaran.

In any case, I understand the points about triple-core being pretty useless for WoW and I suppose the main reason I was going to upgrade my mobo/cpu/ram was I had been reading that RAM speed is a large factor in WoW performance so I figured going from DDR2 800 to DDR3 1600 would be a noticeable difference.

But for right now I'm going to wait a few more days for the video card onion is sending me to arrive and see how my FPS in raids is and if I'll still need to upgrade. Maybe the video card is all that is wrong, I've seen/read a lot of complaints about the 8800 GT and WoW.

[Onion]

if the old cpu is am2 it probably isn't compatible with the new socket type am3

[Onion]

jirouu what company made the 9800 GT's

[Tenzo]

thanks for all the info, but I have no idea what you're talking about tenzo -_-

What I was referring to was that I didn't know if my current CPU would work in the new motherboard I originally posted about - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130228

I'm guessing from what you're saying that my current CPU (dual core AMD 64 x2 socket AM2) *should* work in this new motherboard since it supports a more advanced socket AM3 chip and *should* be backwards compatible with a socket AM2


I misread then. I saw you talking about Phenoms google told me they were still AM2+. I guess now they are using AM3. AM3 motherboards are not compatible with AM2 or AM2+ processors.

After reading you're first post it doesnt sound like its a processor issue. Talk to me in vent :D

[Jirouu]

btw jirouu what are the specs of your old computer?


http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc/ncixpc.cfm...6DDC01-2441016 (http://pc.ncix.com/ncixpc/ncixpc.cfm?uuid=278A393E-ABBB-42BA-8786928C436DDC01-2441016)

[Jirouu]

jirouu what company made the 9800 GT's


ati

[Onion]

uhh, 9800 gt is an nvidia card, i meant like sapphire, evga, pny, etc?

[Jirouu]

evga

[Rhun]

i'm late but if nuch and onion don't buy that comp i will! :P

[Nucholza]

i'm late but if nuch and onion don't buy that comp i will! :P

fu its mine

[Rhun]

:(